The definition of the will to live…Man survives in rubble of Haitian aftermath for 27 days!

Words to live by....

Some people have a strong will to live.  I think that I am one of those.  The spectre of death looms as soon as we are born.  The crew here had some laughs at the recent series of Top Chef.  One of the contestants had to make a meal that represented a vice.

Ron Duprat is Haitian and got to the States via a Banana Boat...that is the desire to live

Gail Simmons, one of the judges on Top Chef, blogged about the challenge.

Then there was Ron. His touching story of refugee survival – while not really a vice, per se – paired so sincerely with the Jerk Bass, Collard Greens & Haitian Hash. We could not help but appreciate his use of bright island flavors, ever symbolic of hope and a fresh start. But it was Kevin’s ingenious riff on procrastination that took our breath away. His delicate, slow-cooked Artic Char combined with the quick Salsa Verde of Turnips was as good as or better than any restaurant dish I have eaten. It was thoughtful and concise – and his skill in its preparation was totally apparent.

My man Ron killed us with laughter when he said that his vice was survival.  I was feeling him when he said that.  If anything, I try to overload on life and living.  Ron’s website tells part of the story.

After twenty-seven days of traveling, covering over seven hundred nautical miles on a boat from Haiti, Ron Duprat used his survival skills and began creating different dishes, learned from his Haitian grandmother the journey to America. Duprat’s passion for cooking was originated as a means of channeling the passion that he possessed and a way out of poverty.

When I heard about the destruction in Haiti, all jokes stopped.  But, among the wreck and devastation, was a ray of sunlight.

Haiti: man trapped for 27 days ‘survived on fruit and water’

A rice vendor may have lived under the rubble of a flea market for 27 days with little more than water and possibly fruit, a doctor has said, in what would be a dramatic tale of survival four weeks after Haiti’s devastating earthquake.

Published: 7:30AM GMT 10 Feb 2010

The man’s account could not be independently confirmed, however, and the doctor conceded medical workers were skeptical at first, but he said they began to believe the man when he regained consciousness and told his story.

The man said he had just finished selling rice for the day at a downtown flea market when quake struck on Jan. 12. He said he didn’t suffer any major injuries and was trapped on his side in an area where food and drink vendors were selling their goods.

“Based on that (his story), we believe him,” said Dr. Dushyantha Jayaweera, a physician at the University of Miami Medishare field hospital where hundreds of patients have been treated since the quake.

Doctors said two men first took the vendor – identified as Evans Monsigrace – to a Salvation Army medical center in Port-au-Prince on Monday and he was then taken to the University of Miami hospital because of his critical condition. The men who brought him also said he had been trapped under the debris since the disaster.

The patient was suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition, but health care workers expressed skepticism about his story when some of his lab work came back relatively normal, Dr Jayaweera said. Then the man regained consciousness and was lucid enough to recount a tale that seems plausible, the doctor said.

Still, doctors at the field hospital or at a Salvation Army medical centre had no way to confirm the story.

The last confirmed survivor found in Haiti was a 16-year-old girl removed from rubble by a French rescue team 15 days after the quake. Doctors said at the time that disaster survivors may be able to sustain themselves with a water supply and without medical attention for up to two weeks.

Nery Ynclan, a University of Miami media officer in Haiti, said the rice vendor was in stable condition and being treated for dehydration and malnutrition.

“Someone could not survive 28 days without water,” Mr Ynclan said of the frail 28-year-old man whose legs are rail thin. “You can go nine weeks without food.”

Dr Jayaweera said the man originally claimed that he had not had any water or food. The man, however, had a normal kidney function with heart palpitations, suggesting he drank at least had some water but not enough to avoid getting dehydrated, the doctor said.

“He came in delirious, asking to die,” Ynclan said, noting Creole translators were at the field hospital.

“He’s still out of it. He answers basic questions,” she said, adding he was nibbling on chocolate and probably would be at the field hospital for a week.

The man’s mother, who was at the field hospital, told workers that people clearing rubble from downtown discovered him and alerted his brothers.

Source

Ron, my vice is survival too. I’m trying to live as long as possible.

Someone played Top Chef with Padma Lakshmi and made a baby!

So, Padma is preggo and my man Sal Rushdie is NOT the father.  This might be a job for Maury….

Who wouldn't beat this up? If no, you must be a male who is gay, since a lot of straight women would sex her up too...

(CNN) — “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi is pregnant with her first child, her publicist confirmed to CNN on Thursday.